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ANNIVERSARY ADDRESSES 



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CORLISS Fil^RANDOLPH 



Copyright, 1922 
By CORLISS F. RANDOLPH 



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BOOTHE COLWELL DAVIS 

By Corliss F. Randolph 

[This address was delivered at the Commencement of Alfred 
University in June, 1920, in commemoration of the completion 
of twenty-five years of continuous service of Doctor Davis as 
President of the University. The address was concluded with 
conferring upon President Davis the degree of Doctor of Sacred 
Theology J. 

In his famous reply to Robert Y. Hayne, in the United 
States Senate, in January, 1830, Daniel Webster began his 
address with a remark to the effect that, under certain con- 
ditions, it was wise for a ship to stop and take its bearings 
before proceeding further; and, from ancient times, the com- 
pletion of this period or that of accomplishment has been 
celebrated with due ceremony and rejoicing. 

Perhaps it was with something of both these thoughts in 
mind that the trustees of the University have deemed it wise, 
in the midst of all the other important activities that mark 
this Commencement, not to overlook the fact that at this time 
Doctor Davis completes the twenty-fifth year of his service 
to the Institution as its president; and, I assure you, I esteem 
it no minor honor that I have been selected to represent the 
Trustees on this occasion. The candid truth compels me to 
say, however, that, while the selection of myself may have 
been mathematically logical, it was by the process of elimina- 
tion that such selection was made. It was upon this wise 
that it so happened ; namely, that it has been my good fortune 
personally to be acquainted with President Davis longer than 
has any other trustee, or than has any member of the faculty. 

Bom of a common ancestry, we both hail from that 
geological freak of the world known as the Hills of West 
Virginia. The blood and other relationships of our respective 
families naturally made us visitors in each other's homes, and 
gave us ties of common interest. His father was my pastor 
for many years, and that, too, accentuated the other relation- 
ships that we sustained. While in those days we were never 
schoolmates, the fact remains that our early education was 
obtained in a common atmosphere — an atmosphere created 
largely by a graduate of Alfred University, Preston F. Ran- 
dolph, by name — who, near the close of the Civil War re- 
turned from Alfred to his home near Salem, West Virginia, 



2 ANNIVERSARY ADDRESSES 

to preach and teach the gospel of education. Encouraged by 
his friends, of whom President Davis' father was one of the 
foremost, he established a series of what, for want of a more 
fitting name, may be called impromptu teacher-training 
schools, long before West Virginia had established normal 
schools for the training of teachers. Prom these impromptu 
schools went out as able and as skillful a body of teachers as 
West Virginia ever boasted. Many of the methods and prac- 
tices taught within the three decades now of the immediate 
past, as those of the most modern and most progressive, were 
in active use in north-central West Virginia a full score of 
years earlier, and all were introduced by this apostle of educa- 
tion trained and inspired by President Kenyon and his as- 
sociates of the earlier Alfred. This leaven, by the way, so 
permeated and so reacted upon these communities as, for 
nearly twenty years, at one time, to send back to Alfred from 
West Virginia a stream of students that steadily increased in 
volume until the establishment of a college in their midst as 
their own stemmed the tide. President Davis, as did I, began 
his teaching in the district schools near home. He supple- 
mented his professional preparation for teaching by study 
for a time in one of the state normal schools. 

With his inheritance of Welsh and of Norman-English 
blood, and brought up in such an environment as I have cited, 
he came to Alfred at the opening of the academic year of 
1885-86, whither I had preceded him by a year. 

In those days, a large number of students were nearly, 
if not quite, wholly dependent upon their own resources for 
funds with which to pay their expenses through college; and 
many came to Alfred without sufficient money for that pur- 
pose, but with the hope of earning something, at least, while 
pursuing their studies. To that class of students we both 
belonged, and much time that we should have been glad to 
spend in athletics and in the social life of the college was spent 
in frequent sessions of our respective committees on ways and 
means and in executing the plans determined upon in that 
way. 

Circumstances so decreed that I graduated in 1888 and 
entered the teaching profession. He remained to graduate in 
1890, and then entered the Divinity School of Yale University, 
where he was graduated in 1893, and at once entered upon the 
pastorate of the First Alfred Seventh Day Baptist Church, 
pursuant to a call previously extended. 



PRESIDENT DAVIS 3 

Among others of the faculty when President Davis first 
came to Alfred were President Allen, who, though giving evi- 
dence of the physical weakness that was to terminate his life 
in a few short years, was still in full possession of his intel- 
lectual powers; Ethan P. Larkin, whose active meteoric career 
was to end suddenly two years later; Mrs. Ida F. Kenyon, whose 
quick nervous temperament gave her a marked personality — 
a personality possessed of a high degree of culture and en- 
dowed with qualities for friendship that endeared her to 
all who came really to know her; Henry C. Coon, whose benig- 
nant manner and readiness for service exerted an influence 
as quiet and as powerful as the softly falling dew; Edward M. 
Tomlinson, one of the finest examples of ripe, exact scholar- 
ship and liberal culture that has ever graced Alfred's faculty; 
Alpheus B. Kenyon, who is too well known to you all for me 
more than to mention his name here, further than to say that 
he was then just reaching the full maturity of his powers as a 
teacher and adviser of youth, and was already quietly known 
as the balance wheel (the governor, if you understand me 
aright) of the mechanism of the faculty, and as a sane adviser 
to leading members of the Board of Trustees; George Scott, 
of a volatile, magnetic, Latin temperament, and one of the 
most inexorable drill masters in the mechanics of language 
that Alfred's faculty has ever possessed. Of such person- 
alities were the men and women to whom was committed the 
task of subduing and training the motley, and not infrequently 
rough and uncouth, crowds of students that came trooping to 
Alfred in those days from all quarters of the country — from 
the Atlantic sea-board to the foot of the Rocky Mountains, 
from the Canadian Border to the Gulf of Mexico, and from 
even beyond the seas; but in real worth of character I opine 
that they would compare very favorably with Alfred's students 
at any other period of her career. Among them were to be 
found such men as Herbert G. Whipple, Charles C. Chipman, 
William C. Hubbard, Edwin H. Lewis, Frederic P. Schoon- 
maker, Charles P. Rogers, and a host of others whose names 
are well and favorably known to you all. 

This, by the way, was no melting pot, but a chemist's 
retort, under which the fires were made hotter and hotter 
until whatever gold even the lowest grade of ore possessed 
was separated, and the dross eliminated. All specimens that 
fused at too low a temperature to withstand this process were 
quietly but mercifully removed. 



4 ANNIVERSARY ADDRESSES 

At the hands of such teachers and among such fellow- 
students, President Davis developed the qualities that have 
distinguished him throughout his entire professional career. 
After two years' church work, he was called to the office of 
president of the University. 

A tremendous problem, or series of problems rather, 
faced him. President Allen had dropped in the harness in 
September, 1892, just at a time when a mighty unrest was 
gathering its momentum for an upheaval of the educational 
world, and particularly so in this country. More than twenty 
years before, President Eliot of Harvard began the reorganiza- 
tion of that college in accord with certain definite principles 
of educational philosophy that have distinguished him for a 
generation since — a movement that was to revolutionize 
American education. With the purpose of that movement, 
President Allen deeply sympathized; and, unless I am sadly 
misinformed, he served upon a committee with President Eliot 
when the general tenets that were to guide the movement 
throughout the country for the change were decided upon. 
The transition at Alfred, however, was not to come in Allen's 
day. But the propaganda for such a change fostered a spirit 
of unrest. Chicago University had been reorganized and re- 
opened with a whoop and a blare of trumpets wholly new to 
the educational world, and upon a scale hitherto totally un- 
known in modern times. Its president was the P. T. Barnum 
of the academic world, and his university the "greatest show 
on earth," to quote a well-known phrase. Leland Stanford 
University, just founded; and the University of California, 
but recently reorganized, both shared with Chicago the 
distinction of being under the guardianship of fabulous wealth. 
Columbia, under the leadership of Seth Low, was quietly en- 
tering upon its own era of expansion which was to continue 
until it had surpassed all its competitors. All the small col- 
leges, with their associate alumni, accepted these events as 
a definite challenge to a desperate struggle for existence, and 
many were the programmes of procedure presented by each 
clamoring multitude of alumni; and each college had almost as 
many programmes as there were clamoring voices that sought 
its ear; with the result that there was widespread internal 
disruption everywhere, as well as external dissatisfaction on 
every hand. 

Upon his accession to office, at least three serious prob- 
lems immediately faced Alfred's new president; namely, a 



PRESIDENT DAVIS 5 

reorganization of the faculty; assuaging the feverish unresr 
and feeling of uncertainty among the alumni; and the im 
perative need of additional funds for current expenses and for 
expansion. All of these problems involved numerous intri 
cacies of complication, and the entire situation was one which 
might well have caused the stoutest heart to quail. 

The president was wise enough to take counsel of cer- 
tain leading spirits among the alumni as to suitable plans 
for meeting these problems; with especial reference to secur- 
ing the enthusiastic, united support of the alumni for the sup- 
port of the new administration; and the problem of future 
growth; with the result that small, informal meetings of the 
alumni were held in various places to meet the president, who 
talked over with them the needs of the University, told them 
his need of their cordial, sympathetic, moral support, and 
solicited suggestions as to the best plan of procedure. In due 
time these conferences began to bear fruit. 

About this time there developed a feeling, which gradually 
grew into a belief, that Prof. William A. Rogers might be 
induced to return to Alfred. After a term of thirteen years' 
successful teaching at Alfred he had left to go to Harvard 
Observatory, where he had made an international reputation 
as an astronomer. He had then gone to Colby University in 
Maine, where he made an international reputation anew, this 
time as a micrometrist. It was believed not only possible 
but somewhat probable that professor Rogers might feel like 
returning to Alfred to spend the remaining years of his teach- 
ing career where it was begun, some forty years before. Pur- 
suant to this, the president conferred with certain of the 
alumni and trustees, notably Dr. Daniel Lewis, and received 
encouragement to such an extent that he visited Professor 
Rogers at Colby, and came back with the written promise of 
the latter to return to Alfred upon the fulfillment of stipula- 
tions which he named, stipulations which involved at least a 
partial solution of the problem of additional funds for ex- 
pansion. This news met with an enthusiastic reception on 
the part of the alumni, particularly those who had been stu- 
dents of Professor Rogers when he had been an instructor 
here. The trustees accepted the conditions of the offer with- 
out delay, and at once plans were formed for meeting them. 
Professor Rogers attended the following Commencement, when 
was laid the cornerstone of the Babcock Hall of Physics, a build- 
ing which was to be equipped for his use. But already the 



6 ANNIVERSARY ADDRESSES 

tentacles of disease had laid hold of him, and before the time 
arrived for him really to enter upon his duties here, he had 
passed away. While his death was an irreparable loss to 
Alfred, the movement started to meet the conditions of his 
return was by no means a failure. Indeed, it may fairly be 
said that it proved to be Alfred's salvation at a very critical 
period of her history. It had solidified the alumni and be- 
gotten a common definite purpose of action among them. 
Furthermore, it showed conclusively the ability of Alfred's 
friends really to accomplish something, at least, in the direc- 
tion of her most obvious needs; and all that was required to 
cause that ability to function was a very concrete motive. 

Attention was now turned to certain natural resources of 
Alfred and vicinity as a basis for further expansion. For 
many years it had been known that deposits of clay and 
shale here were of unusual value, and business enterprise had 
sought to develop them, with a certain measure of success. 
Now there was conceived a plan to induce the State of New 
York to establish a school of ceramics at Alfred, as an in- 
tegral part of the University. This plan was cordially en- 
dorsed by influential alumni and trustees — ^particularly John 
J. Merrill, Melville Dewey, and Daniel Lewis — and a bill was 
introduced into the state legislature to carry it into effect. 
Legislative action met violent opposition from certain sources, 
especially from one of the leading daily papers of New York 
City; but the opposition was overcome, the bill became a law, 
and, as a result, Alfred now has the best equipped and the 
most widely and favorably known school of ceramics in this 
country. 

In further development of the plan to utilize local re- 
sources in expanding the University, the President again 
interested certain of the alumni and trustees, who, under the 
leadership of the late Hon. Peter B. MacLennan, gave their 
cordial support to an effort which resulted in the establish- 
ment of a State School of Agriculture here. 

In the meantime, the needs of the University Library 
had outgrown its quarters in Kenyon Memorial Hall, and appli- 
cation was made to Andrew Carnegie for funds with which to 
erect a new library building. The application was granted on 
terms acceptable to the Trustees, and the building was erectea. 

Of certain other achievements, by way of improvement and 
expansion of the physical equipment of the Universtiy — the 
acquisition of the Steinheim, of Kanakadea Hall, of Burdick 



PRESIDENT DAVIS 7 

Hall, of the installation of a central heating plant, of the for- 
mation of a plan by which the grounds are systematically 
developed and beautified, and of numerous other details — I 
shall not take the time to speak now. Suffice It to say that 
twenty-five years ago, the trustees reported to the Regents of 
the State University that the net value of Alfred's resources 
was $281,000 in round numbers. At the present time, the 
treasurer reports that they exceed a million dollars. 

The reorganization of the faculty resulted first in the 
physical separation of the academy from the college, and 
ultimately of the total elimination of the former. Modern 
conditions made this possible if not imperative. Very few 
students now come to Alfred who are not ready for college, 
and satisfactory arrangements are made for that few to be 
taken care of in the public high school of the village of Alfred. 

The Theological Seminary has been set apart as an indi- 
vidual factor, though an integral department, of the Univer- 
sity, with its own separate faculty and dean. This was at- 
tended by a substantial increase in the endowment and by 
the provision of other sources of revenue for its mainten- 
ance. 

The college is administered directly through a college 
dean, and, for the more satisfactory solution of certain prob- 
lems that present-day school administration demand shall be 
met in that manner, a dean is provided for the women. 

Of such attainment is the man who, as president, has ad- 
ministered the affairs of Alfred University for the past twenty- 
five years, and of such manner have been his achievements 
throughout that, trying and not insignificant period. 

President Davis: In behalf of Alfred University and all 
its friends — of the Alumni, of the many anxious friends who 
are unavoidably absent today, but who after all are present in 
spirit, and particularly in behalf of the Trustees of the Uni- 
versity — , I extend to you the congratulations and felicitations 
of us all upon the auspicious completion of twenty-five years 
of your service as president of this University. I extend to 
you congratulations and felicitations upon all the achieve- 
ments that mark your career. Yours has been a magnificent 
work — a work which, much as it has meant to the material 
prosperity of our beloved Alma Mater, to a far greater degree 
and in a far larger sense has meant social service, a humani 
tarian service, bounded only by the furthermost reaches of 
the circles of influence of all this quarter-century's associ- 



8 ANNIVERSARY ADDRESSES 

ate alumni, many of whom have scattered to the four corners 
of the earth. 

In token of their appreciation of these achievements, and 
of your service in behalf of the University, and by the special 
authority vested in me by the Trustees for this occasion, 1 
admit you,. Boothe Colwell Davis, to the degree of Doctor of 
Sacred Theology in this University, the rights and privileges 
pertaining thereto, in token of which I hand you this diploma. 



ALPHEUS BURDICK KENYON 

By Corliss F. Randolph 



[This address was delivered before the annual meeting of 
the Alumni Association of Alfred University at Commencement 
time, in June, 1920, upon the occasion of the retirement of Pro- 
fessor Kenyon, after forty-six years continuous service in the 
University]. 



On an occasion such as this, one is forcibly reminded of 
the Wise Man's proverb to the effect that "Words fitly spoken 
are like apples of gold in pictures of silver." But silver is 
scarce, gold much more so, and words for use on the present 
occasion which are both fitting and adequate are indeed very 
scarce. 

After a close acquaintance and intimate friendship of 
thirty-six years with Professor Kenyon, I esteem it a dis- 
tinguished honor to be asked to speak upon this occasion. 
Wholly apart from the question of the wisdom of the Alumni 
Association's choice of its present speaker, it is entirely fitting 
that an old pupil and a personal friend of long standing should 
perform this function He should bring to his task a certain 
attitude of mind, a certain warm sympathetic appreciation of 
his subject, that one without the experience of that personal 
relationship could not bring. But even with that experience, 
and fully conscious of the honor conferred upon me and no 
less so of the opportunity offered, I am equally conscious of 
my inability to find words in which to say the things that 
I should like to say, in terms suitable for the occasion. 

This is not the time to present a biographical sketch of our 
subject, nor is any offered; but it is altogether appropriate 
that certain phases of this unique career, along with their 
attendant facts, should be brought to your attention. 

If I read the printed record aright, it is a little more than 
fifty years ago that, from the granite-paved state of Rhode 
Island, Alpheus Burdick Kenyon matriculated at Alfred Uni- 
versity. He came in good company; for with him were Dr. 
Henry M. Maxson, now superintendent of schools in the City 
of Plainfield, N. J., and the late Gov. George H. Utter cf 
Rhode Island, both from Westerly, R. I. 



10 ANNIVERSARY ADDRESSES 

At that time, besides President Allen, the faculty included 
Ethan P. Larkin, possessed of a remarkably rich, vivid, active 
imagination; Mary E. Brown, now Mrs. Edward M. Tomlinson, 
of this village; Charlotte E. Dowse, afterwards Mrs. John R. 
Groves; William A. Rogers, already attracting national atten- 
tion as an astronomer; Edward M. Tomlinson, one of the most 
ideally equipped professors of Greek of his day in this coun- 
try; Albert Whitford, a mathematician with precision of 
scholarship and of character, alike; and others. Albert 
Whitford continued to occupy the chair of mathematics until 
1872, when he resigned to engage in similar work in Milton 
College, at Milton, Wis., and was succeeded by John R. 
Groves; who, in his turn, gave way, in 1874, to Professor Ken- 
yon, then just graduated from College at Alfred, who has oc- 
cupied that professorship continuously until the present time. 

Although it was a period of unrest, the faculty, as you 
have observed, under which Professor Kenyon took his college 
course, comprised some notable characters of no mean aca- 
demic attainments. 

Col. Thomas Wentworth Higginson remarked that in the 
Cambridge of his youth it was expected that any member of 
the Harvard faculty could answer any question within the 
range of human knowledge; whereas in these days of special- 
ization some man may answer the question, but it may take a 
week's investigation to find the man. Alfred's faculty, at 
the time of which we are speaking, was not composed of men 
as versatile as those of Colonel Higginson's Harvard; but, 
in all fairness, it may be said that several of Alfred's men were 
versatile in no small degree. President Allen, for example, 
on occasion at least, taught practically all, if not actually all, 
of the subjects of the curriculum, including those of the School 
of Theology; he was also a member of the New York State bar. 
William A. Rogers came to Alfred with the expectation of 
teaching French, but was assigned to the department of Mathe- 
matics; when the chair of Industrial Mechanics was estab- 
lished, he was made its first occupant; he also built and equip- 
ped the astronomical observatory, and began publishing the 
results of his observations of the heavens, which were of such 
a character that when there was assigned to Harvard Observa- 
tory a sixth portion of the German survey of the northern 
heavens, she employed Professor Rogers to undertake that 
work. When it was finished and the report published, it 
proved more comprehensive and more complete than any of 



PROFESSOR KENYON 11 

the other five, all of which were made by European institu- 
tions. Edward M. Tomlinson, while he did not essay teaching 
outside the classics, was a veritable walking encyclopaedia of 
general knowledge, read German easily, and was possessed of 
rare literary accomplishments. Ethan P. Larkin, with his 
per-fervid imagination, burst like a meteor upon any subject 
that might happen to appeal to his fancy. Albert Whitford 
taught Latin with the same degree of exactness and thorough 
ness with which he taught mathematics. 

Besides Henry M. Maxson and George H. Utter, already 
named, there were to be found among the student body of 
that time men like Daniel Lewis, Isaac B. Brown, James 
McHale, Horace B. Packer, Melville Dewey, Willis I. Lewis, 
Alfred A. Titsworth, and others. 

Under the tutelage of such a faculty and amid such a 
student body there was every incentive for any serious minded 
student to develop all the manly qualities he possessed, and 
to ripen into a mature, exacting scholarship; and I am sure 
that Professor Kenyon will pardon me when I say that so 
profoundly did he impress his preceptors with his ability as 
a mathematician that he was urged to forego the classical 
course upon which he had set his heart, and confine himself to 
the scientific course that he might the better and the more 
speedily serve his alma mater by taking her chair of mathe- 
matics. On this occasion, as on many others of his life, he 
yielded his personal preference, and then completed his under- 
graduate course as soon as possible, and assumed the chair of 
mathematics immediately upon his graduation. 

Besides the chair of Mathematics, he has also occupied 
that of Industrial Mechanics at different periods, never re- 
linquishing the former, however. In 1886, he became a trustee 
of the University, and retained that office for a term of some 
seven years, during one year of which he served the trustees 
as their recording secretary. Nearly thirty years ago, he 
became registrar of the University, an office which he re- 
tained until 1915. In 1908, he was made dean of the college, 
and has continued in the exercise of that function until the 
present time. For the greater part of a year immediately fol- 
lowing the death of President Allen, Professor Kenyon served 
as acting president of the University. In the midst of his 
manifold professional duties, he took the time to spend part of 
a year in graduate study at Cornell University in 1887, upon a 
quasi leave of absence; continuing however to direct his 



12 ANNIVERSARY ADDRESSES 

elass-room work at Alfred throughout this entire period. For 
many years he has been a director of the University Library, 
and likewise president of the University Corporation. For 
some decades he has been vice president of the Alfred Uni- 
versity Alumni Association; indeed, so far as the present 
speaker's knowledge extends, in recent years there has been 
no other alumnus, with the exception of Dr. Daniel Lewis, 
who has been so actively and so intimately connected with 
that association from its organization in 1886 down to the 
present time, as Professor Kenyon. For a long term of years, 
he was treasurer of the Seventh Day Baptist Education So- 
ciety, a corporation whose assets consist almost wholly of 
endowment funds of this University. He is still a director of 
that body. 

Of his non-academic activities, it may not now be perti- 
nent to speak; but his training as a mathematician has made 
him so conspicuous a figure in the Building Loan Association 
movement of this country — a movement with which he be- 
came identified in the days of its earlier history — that it seems 
fitting at least to make mention of it here. At an annual 
meeting of the national body of Building Loan Associations 
held in my own city, that of Newark, N. J., two years ago, it 
was a source of pleasure and pride, both, to me to find that 
Professor Kenyon was so well and so favorably known among 
its leaders as an expert in their business, and no less favorably 
known as a college professor. 

Such is a very meagre and a very incomplete outline of 
the academic career of Alpheus Burdick Kenyon, Professor 
of Mathematics, Professor of Industrial Mechanics, Trustee, 
Acting President, Registrar, and College Dean, all of Alfred 
University. 

Professor Kenyon: I say "Professor" advisedly; for, of all 
the numerous titles that you have held in the long years of 
your residence here, that to me is most familiar, as I am 
sure it is to all the great body of your former students and 
your army of other friends. 

Professor Kenyon: I say, on behalf of the alumni of our 
Alma Mater; or, rather, of the entire student body from the 
time that you yourself matriculated as a student of Alfred 
University down to the present hour, I bring you, first of all, 
our affectionate greetings. They come from hearts that 
recognize — very imperfectly, we know; but, nevertheless, to 



PROFESSOR KENYON 13 

some measure, at least — something of what you have done for 
us. By your severe scholarship, you have taught us logical 
thinking. By your uprightness of character, you have taught 
us every-day justice and honesty to all men. By your clean 
living, you have taught us a morality not found in any formal 
code. By your abstinence from self-indulgence, you have 
taught us temperance unknown to the oratory of the forum. 
By your kindliness of heart and your charity for our faults. 
you have taught us more of the Golden Rule than have 
eloquent sermons and learned treatises. As our joys have 
been your joys, as our grief has been your grief, as our prob- 
lems have been your problems, as our disappointments and 
failures have been your disappointments and failures, so have 
we learned something of our inter-dependence upon one an- 
other, something of the ties that bind all hearts and lives to- 
gether, something of the common brotherhood of man. 

I bring you the congratulations of the thousands of these 
friends of yours — from those of three score and ten down 
to the youth of today, all, congratulations upon all the varied 
achievements of your magnificent career, a career that is a 
goodly heritage. Though it has not brought you abundant 
stores of material value, it has brought you riches — riches 
not to be estimated in denominations of silver and gold. 
Service such as yours can be adequately rewarded only by 
our Heavenly Father. 

Were we to consult our own selfish feelings only, we 
should hope that you would continue your service here in- 
definitely. But we do rejoice that it is possible for you to 
stop under such favorable auspices for your personal comfort 
as now exist. We rejoice in the vigor of your body and mind 
that enable you so confidently to look forward to many 
happy years free from the exacting responsibilities of a voca- 
tion, when you will be wholly at liberty to experience to the 
full the joys of avocation 

Your place in the history of Alfred University is de- 
termined — fixed for all time. Moreover, in certain respects It 
is unique, especially so in length of term of service. Even the 
length of President Allen's long term of devoted self-sacrifice 
fell short of your achievement. You link the past with the 
present. You link a period that was little more than the 
middle of the nineteenth century, when many of us who are 
now grey-heads were little more than prattling infants; that 



14 ANNIVERSARY ADDRESSES 

period, I say, you link with this tense, throbbing, all-but-mid- 
way mark of the first half of the twentieth century. In you 
more than in any other living person is embodied all that 
wealth of inspiring tradition of this University, the sort of 
wealth which every true college man and every true college 
woman recognizes as the most valuable asset of any educa- 
tional institution, an asset that cannot be measured by untold 
millions; and it is our hope, as the years of your retirement 
upon your "Sabine farm" are to be spent almost under the 
very eaves of the Old Chapel we all love so well, that the 
wealth of tradition, the common inheritance of us all, will 
not only be perpetuated indefinitely in you, but that it will 
grow richer and will breathe a more delicate, a more subtle 
and precious perfume as the years go by. 

It is with a sense of very real joy that we learn that you 
retire as a professor emeritus of the University, and that at 
its annual meeting yesterday the University corporation again 
made you a member of its Board of Trustees. This action re- 
news an old, cherished relation with the University, even 
though the oldest and the more intimate ties are severed. 

I need not say that it is with the keenest regret that we 
are conscious that the old-time relations are sundered. It 
wrenches our very heartstrings to see you go. But you have 
earned your retirement — earned it many-fold; it is but your 
just due, and we all rejoice that you can have it under such 
favorable conditions as now appear. As you go to enjoy 
what Cicero so fittingly terms your oUum cum dignitate, you 
will be followed by our affectionate regards and our fervent 
prayers for the fulfillment of all the hopes with which you 
have looked forward to this day. 

In yourself we recognize the embodiment of all that 
Kipling meant when he sang of his own college days: 

"There we met with famous men 

Set in office o'er us; 
And they beat us on with rods — 
Faithfully with many rods — 
Daily beat us on with rods, 
For the love they bore us! 

"And we all praise famous men — 

Ancients of the College; 
For they taught us common sense — 
Tried to teach us common sense — 
Truth and God's own Common Sense, 

Which Is more than knowledge! 



PROFESSOR KENYON 15 

"This we learned from famous men, 
Knowing not its uses, 
When they showed in daily work, 
Man must finish off his work — 
Right or wrong his daily work — 
And without excuses. 

"This we learned from famous men, 

Knowing not we learned it, 
Only, as the years went by — 
Lonely, as the years went by — 
Far from help as years went by. 

Plainer we discerned it. 

"Wherefore praise we famous men 

From whose bays we borrow — 
They that put aside today — 
All the joys of their today — 
And with toil of their today 

Bought for us tomorrow! 

"Bless and praise we famous men — 



For their work continueth. 
For their work continueth, 
Broad and deep continueth. 

Great beyond their knowing." 

Guide of youth for almost half a century; Philosopher, ex- 
emplifying in yourself, in their simplest terms, what is best 
and truest in all worth-while philosophies of life; Friend to 
thousands, with loving memory; as your mantle of sacred 
service falls upon the shoulders of your successor, of your 
successors, may a double portion of your spirit go with it. 

Professor Kenyon: Close your eyes for a moment, and 
with me gaze upon this throng as it files past you — two score 
and six years in length — all with shining faces, each laying 
upon your altar a sacrifice of affectionate regard; and, as we 
depart, hear us as with one mighty tumultuous voice we 
joyfully shout "Hail, Professor Kenyon, but not farewell, only 
au revoir." 

And now if you will be good enough to conceive that of 
all these merry, parting guests of yours, I have lingered till 
I am the last to go, the one charged with leaving with you 
some tangible evidence of our hasty call, pray accept this as 
such evidence — a token,* by no means a measure, of our love 



* This token consisted of $850 in gold. 



16 ANNIVERSARY ADDRESSES 

and affection for you; and, if by any chance you find that in 
any way it contributes to your comfort and enjoyment of life, 
be assured that it will add to our joys to feel that we have 
added something to your joys, and that we shall be repaid, 
more than doubly so, for this fleeting visit. May Heaven's 
richest blessings rest upon you. 




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LIBRARY OF CONGRESS 



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